Some commercially available 3D printers, such as the ProJet™ 3D Printers manufactured by 3D Systems of Rock Hill, S.C., use inks, which are also known as build materials, that are jetted through a print head as a liquid to form various 3D objects, articles, or parts. Other 3D printing systems also use an ink that is jetted through a print head or otherwise dispensed onto a substrate. In some instances, the ink is solid at ambient temperatures and converts to liquid at elevated jetting temperatures. In other instances, the ink is liquid at ambient temperatures. Moreover, in some cases, the ink can be cured following dispensing and/or deposition of the ink onto the substrate.
Other 3D printers form 3D articles from a reservoir, vat, or container of a fluid ink or build material or a powdered ink or build material. In some cases, a binder material or a laser or other source of energy is used to selectively solidify or consolidate layers of the ink or build material in a stepwise fashion to provide the 3D article.
Inks for 3D printing systems can be used to form a variety of articles for a variety of applications, including in a manner described hereinabove. However, some printed 3D articles exhibit poor biocompatibility. For instance, some such articles induce significant cytotoxicity. Some prior inks may thus be unsuitable for the formation of 3D articles for some applications, such as applications in which the articles come into contact with biological tissue.
Therefore, there exists a need for improved inks for 3D printing, including for applications requiring a high degree of biocompatibility and/or low cytotoxicity.